On April 7, 2003, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission ("Commission") asking the Commission to designate the burrowing owl as a threatened or endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act ("CESA"). Designation as a threatened or endangered species under CESA could curtail development, agriculture, and industrial and other activity in areas that may serve as nesting and foraging habitat for burrowing owls.

Under CESA, the California Department of Fish and Game ("Department") has 90 days to evaluate the petition and make a recommendation to the Commission concerning the sufficiency of the petition and whether Commission action "may be warranted." If the Department finds that Commission action "may be warranted," the owl will become legally protected pending final action by the Commission. In that case, the Department will have 12 months to prepare a comprehensive report for the Commission stating the Department's determination as to whether a threatened or endangered designation is warranted and identifying areas which may be essential habitat for the species. No less than 30 days after the Department submits its report to the Commission, the Commission will take final action on the petition.

The burrowing owl is found throughout California. Although the largest breeding populations appear to be located in the Imperial Valley and the Central Valley, the owl occurs extensively throughout the state, including urban areas in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area and metropolitan Southern California. Extensive occurrences have been documented in both northern California, in eastern Alameda County, central and eastern Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County, and in southern California, in Los Angeles County, western San Bernardino County, western Riverside County, and San Diego County.

The burrowing owl is already protected by Section 3503.5 of the California Fish and Game Code, and by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In 1979, state authorities designated the burrowing owl a Species of Special Concern, and in 1994 federal authorities followed suit with a similar designation under federal law. In 1995, California Department of Fish and Game promulgated informal burrowing owl mitigation guidelines, and state and federal wildlife agencies typically base their mitigation recommendations on these informal guidelines. Local governmental agencies may, however, vary from these guidelines in conducting environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). These existing regulatory practices would be likely to change if the burrowing owl is listed as an endangered species under the CESA, which requires that impacts on a listed species be "fully minimized and mitigated" in connection with the issuance of a CESA permit.